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7 Facts Americans Should Know About ISIS

Because you cannot trust the Obama Administration’s contradictory and mixed messages on ISIS, here are seven ISIS facts:

1. ISIS Began in the 1990s
While the Islamic State may be new to some Americans, as The Atlantic
notes, “The group that recently renamed itself simply ‘Islamic State’
has existed under various names and in various shapes since the early
1990s.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy notes that in its 1999 incarnation, ISIS was known as Jamaat al-Tawhid wa-l-Jihad (JTWJ).2. ISIS is Led by a Man Released from a U.S. Detention Camp in 2009
The leader of ISIS is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Baghdadi was released
from the U.S. detention camp named Camp Bucca near the Kuwaiti border in
2009. When he was freed, Baghdadi reportedly told U.S. Army reservists
from Long Island, New York, “I’ll see you guys in New York.”

3. ISIS is the Richest Terror Organization in the World
Through its seizure of oilfields, banks, weapons, and other resources, ISIS has amassed a war chest estimated to total $2 billion, according to NBC News. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) warns that “the threat ISIS poses cannot be overstated.” Feinstein, who has criticized President Barack Obama for being “too cautious”
in confronting ISIS, calls the terror group “the most vicious,
well-funded and militant terrorist organization we have ever seen.”

4. The Number of ISIS Fighters Has Tripled to 31,500
On Friday, a CIA spokesman
told CNN that the Islamic State “can muster between 20,000 and 31,500
fighters across Iraq and Syria.” Months prior, U.S. official put the
figure at just 10,000.

5. ISIS has an Estimated 2,000 Westerners in its Ranks
Through its sophisticated social media recruitment and other means,
ISIS has successfully recruited 2,000 Westerners—a key terror asset
whose passports could allow re-entry into Western countries to carry out
attacks. Intelligence reports indicate that over 100 Americans
have enlisted as Islamic State fighters. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and other
Republican members of Congress have advanced legislation to “revoke
their passports and strip them of their U.S. citizenship,” reports the Houston Chronicle. Last week, the Daily Mailreported that at least three Minnesota women have traveled to Syria to assist ISIS fighters. Two American ISIS members have already been killed, both from Minnesota.

6. ISIS Now Controls 35,000 Square Miles in Iraq and Syria
In its drive to expand the caliphate, ISIS now controls 35,000 square miles of territory—an area roughly the size of Indiana. As former Pentagon official Janine Davidson told the New Yorker, “ISIS now controls a volume of resources and territory unmatched in the history of extremist organizations.”